The ride was quick, and yet slow at the same time. He knew that the king wouldn’t waste a second, so Ignei couldn’t be able to enjoy the scenery as he had hoped. This was the city his father protected when Ignei was but a boy. It was an amazing and yet mechanical sight. From the way people easily weaved in and out of the buildings, the boy wondered if everything was only routine to them, to the point where the people even stopped and stared at their surroundings.

It wasn’t long after that he felt the vehicle stop. A door opened, and the boy stepped outside to a different world. A different… forest? Where did this forest come from? Could it be that this city had other exits that led to other areas?

He cautiously took another step towards the towering trees. He suddenly questioned to the agreement he made with the king. Perhaps it would be best if he just returned home. But he knew that he couldn’t.

Ignei took in a deep breath. Strangely the forest air felt minty in his mouth, yet it still manages to refresh him. After much deliberation, he marched on forward, letting himself fall into the dangers and wonders of the forest.

Unlike the forest in his village, this one seemed more wildlike, savage-like, like a jungle. The leaves were so big that they seem to cover Ignei’s entire body. The flowers were beautiful, but there was some odd feeling that he couldn’t decipher as he stared at them deeply. The flowers looked predatory somehow, or perhaps it was just him.

Ignei thought that the rebels would be setting up camp on the outskirts on the city. Weren’t they going to overthrow the king somehow? How could they do that if none of them are actually present? Unless, possibly they were thinking up of ways to torture the princess.

The boy took a deep breath. Perhaps if he wanted to get out of this alive, he might as well stop thinking such useless thoughts. After all, they would interfere with his mission, and he didn’t want any distractions.

Unfortunately, one came his way only a couple of minutes into the forest. Ignei heard a scream that echoed from his left. A scream? Was someone in trouble? He didn’t really want to get involved. Then there was another scream, and another, before they stopped completely. Ignei may not know where they came from, and he wasn’t going to find out.

However, he could see something from the corner of his eye. Ignei turned around to see an animal, a strange one, at that. It had only three limbs, and the fourth was nowhere to be seen. When it turned around, he stared at it, appalled at its deformed face, the weird placement of its eyes and mouth. He didn’t want to see any more of it, and immediately ran away from it as far away as possible.

Why did he agree to this again? He asked himself, only to remember that it was only because it was his punishment, or in his case, a deal for his life. Or perhaps it would be the other way around.

Ignei shivered at the sudden temperature change, the sun might be up, but the air was chilly. He looked at his sack and wondered if they packed up something warm for him to use. Unfortunately, he found himself no such thing, and he knew then that he would freeze himself to death. Or get eaten by a creepy deformed creature, whichever one came first.

At least, until he heard a scream from a distance.

Now, not being an expert in these things, Ignei knew that it was the same scream from earlier. Maybe, it would lead him to some form of shelter, or it may lead him to another unwanted companion. However, either way, he could still possibly feel warmer and less miserable than he was right now.

He impulsively ran towards the sound of the person’s voice.

The voice immediately led him to a very tall tower, with a small moat surrounding it. He looked up and saw a very high window at the top of the tower, as well as an entrance towards it, but something seemed a little off.

For one thing, how could there possibly be a tower in the middle of the jungle? And why exactly would someone build one there randomly?

Or maybe… it was where the rebels were hiding the princess? One thing was for sure though, someone was trapped inside and Ignei was obliged to save her, or so he thought. He really was knew to the knight-in-shining-armor business and had no idea how the whole process works.

“Help!” the voice screamed again, her hoarse voice projected from the top of the tower. Ignei looked up again. How was he going to get up there?

He shouted from below. “Shh! People might hear you! I’ll get you down from there!” He didn’t know what to expect was behind the window, but the next thing he saw were sleek black locks and a pale face. He couldn’t see her expression, but her eagerness, if it was a she anyway, seemed to show her excitement.

“Ah! If it isn’t another suitor!” she said in surprise. “I’m sorry about that, I was just calling out to my friend but seems to me that he isn’t home at the moment.”

Ignei blinked at the girl’s sudden reaction. What the hell was going on here? He thought she wanted to be saved! “Uh… I’m going to help you now, is that okay?”

The girl was startled at his sudden behavior and blinked at him. “What? Oh no no, I don’t need any saving here, I mean, I guess I do, but it’s only because I don’t have a spare match and I need to light up a fire… please don’t bring me down there. I rather like it up here. It’s rather safe.”

“Then, would you mind as if to share your home?” he asked politely. “You see, I’ve traveled a long way, and right now the jungle is freezing.”

“How do I know whether or not you’re a mass murderer or something?” she asked.

Ignei knew then that this girl really needed to be out into the world. However, he played along. “Look, I can promise you that mass murderers do not look like me. I can assure you that I haven’t killed anyone in my entire life.”

The girl nodded at this and told him, “Then come up. The door is unlocked.”

Immediately then, Ignei rushed towards the wooden door and opened it, gathering himself inside for warmth. Despite it being a cold tower, he preferred it there rather than the outside.

Remind him again why he was on this trip in the first place?

Ignei looked up and saw it. A spiral staircase most likely led up to the top of that tower. He gulped at the amount of steps he would have to take to get to that girl. Why did he decide to do this in the first place?

He sighed as he began his way up, ascending the staircase and approaching her room rather slowly, although he wouldn’t want to admit that. Perhaps it was best not to shout.

The boy heard the girl hum a tune as it echoed throughout the tower. Her door must be open as well. Who in their right mind would keep the front door unlocked and the bedroom door open?

“Hey!” the girl cried out, “Are you going to come up here or not?”

She was completely oblivious to the fact that he was panting at this point. How pathetic of him, not being able to even complete a flight of stairs.

Maybe his powers would do the trick. With much determination, he was sure to be able to do something with his unlocked powers.

But how would he activate them? It wasn’t like he had experience with this. In fact, he didn’t get much info since the strange girl the king call ‘witch’ didn’t tell him specific about his powers. He should’ve answered a lot more questions.

It would probably be best that he took the stairs, but Ignei wanted the easy way out. After all, it shouldn’t be that hard to pull of something magical to give him a higher boost.

“Hey man, are you coming up here or what?” he heard the girl’s voice echo. “I really need your help and you’re not exactly helping me with that.”

He groaned at the girl’s impatience.

Ignei concentrated real hard, and tried to take himself into the core being of his mind. He loosened up his body, and took in a deep breath. The boy had to start from somewhere, right? Perhaps it was true, but nothing came out of him.

He guessed it was probably a one-time thing.

“Hey!” the girl cried out. “Are you going to come up here or what?”

After hearing her the second time he groaned again and went up the stairs. He didn’t feel any different and felt that his powers were an absolute rip-off. He would just have to make do with them later.

As soon as he arrived at her doorstep, he collapsed on the ground, tired and his legs aching from the possible mile walk up some flight of stairs. He looked up to see her sleek black locks in his view. Her back was turned, but he can faintly see her wearing an apron. She turned around and spotted him.

“Ah… you’re here,” she finally said.

When he saw her, he noticed that she was pale, very pale, and almost rather unnatural. Her eyes were rounded and soft as her dull irises the color of the late evening sky were reflected.

“So… mass murderer?” she asked him. He grunted in response. “Of course not.”

She helped him up with his small dilemma and dragged him towards the center of her room. She saw him with supplies and smiled eagerly. “You don’t mind if I just take a small peek at your things, right?” she asked him. She smiled when he didn’t respond, still trying to recover from the journey. “Okay then… let’s see…”

The pale girl found two sticks inside her bag and two stones. She smiled at the two different items and put the sticks back in the sack and pulled out the rocks. “Ah, yes! This is perfect!”

He groaned at her. “What are you going to do with that?” he asked her weakly, not even wanting to know whether she’ll completely rob her of her things or not.

“Ah, me?” she asked as she smiled at him sweetly. “I just needed something to create a fire. You see, my friend forgot to give me a sample of his before he left to do some things. He’s a strange thing, that guy.”

The boy chuckled at her. Perhaps she wasn’t as bad as she thought. But why would she need a fire? Maybe she was cooking something, or something completely normal. And besides, a fire creates warmth. He needed those two in order to survive.

His stomach growled at the prospect of food. The girl giggled slightly. “Heh, you must be hungry, huh? Don’t worry, I’ll be done with my soup in a minute!” she hummed a song and Ignei could smell the delicious aroma of his future meal. He had to fight it, but he just couldn’t help himself.

She smiled at him as she continued with her cooking. She looked out the window, only for her expression to drop to a frown. She looked back at him, who still looked weak, and she pulled him up and away from the window. “I’m sorry,” she said to him. “You need to hide. He’s coming soon, and he doesn’t like it when visitors come.”

Ignei’s eyes widened at the thought. So she was being held captive after all! But who in the world would—

“Please, you have to hide! He probably saw you already!” She shoved him out of the room and back towards the room of the endless flight of stairs. “Thank goodness he doesn’t look in there,” she muttered.

“Who’s coming?” Ignei asked in curiosity only to be hushed by the girl.

She returned to her room and Ignei peeked in the window. A dragon’s head could be seen from the inside.